The 50 most expensive U.S. colleges

Sarah Lawrence College

Tuition, room, board and other required fees at Sarah Lawrence College cost $61,236. Sarah Lawrence tops CampusGrotto.com's rankings of the most expensive colleges for the fifth straight year. The image at left shows the Slonim House, and below the Westlands Building is seen at the private liberal arts school in Bronxville, N.Y.

Credit: EdRichardson

New York University

New York University ranks second on CampusGrotto.com's list of the most expensive colleges. Tuition, room, board and required fees at this private university in New York cost $59,837.

Harvey Mudd College - $58,913

Harvey Mudd College ranks third for the 2012-2013 school year on CampusGrotto.com's annual list of the most expensive colleges. Tution, room, board and required fees there cost $58,913. The private school's entrance on Dartmouth Avenue in Claremont, Calif., appears in this image.

Columbia University

Columbia University, a private school in New York, ranks fourth this school year on CampusGrotto.com's annual list of the most expensive colleges. Its total cost -- room, board, tuition and other required fees -- is $58,742. The image shows the Columbia University Library.

Credit: John Minchillo/AP (image), Jason Henry McCormick/CBS (copy)

Wesleyan University

With a total cost for room, board, tuition and other required fees of $58,202, Wesleyan University ranks fifth on CampusGrotto.com's annual list of the most expensive colleges. The private university is in Middletown, Conn.

Claremont McKenna College

Room, board, tuition and other required fees this school year at Claremont McKenna College in Claremont, Calif., cost $58,065. The private liberal arts school ranks sixth on CampusGrotto.com's annual list of the most expensive colleges.

Dartmouth College

A year at Dartmouth College, the most expensive school in the Ivy League, will run you $57,996 for the 2012/13 academic year, according to CampusGotto.com. The image shows Dartmouth Hall at the private university in Hanover, N.H.

Drexel University

Room, board, tuition and other required fees at Drexel University cost $57,975, which ranks eighth highest in fees this school year on CampusGrotto.com's annual list of the most expensive colleges. The Edmund D. Bossone Research Enterprise Center at Drexel University in Philadelphia is seen in this image.

The University of Chicago

The University of Chicago, a private research university in Hyde Park, carries a total cost -- room, board, tuition and other required fees -- of $57,711, according to CampusGrotto.com. The photo shows Rosenwald Hall.

Bard College

With a total cost of $57,580, Bard College ranks 10th this school year on CollegeGrotto.com's annual list of the most expensive colleges. The private liberal arts college is in Annandale-on-Hudson, N.Y.

Trinity College (Hartford, Conn.)

Trinity College in Hartford, Conn., charges $57,530 for room, board, tuition and required fees. The private liberal arts school ranks 11th this school year on CampusGrotto.com's annual list of the most expensive colleges.

Eugene Lang College The New School for Liberal Arts

Room, board, tuition and other required fees at Eugene Lang College The New School for Liberal Arts, a seminar-style college in New York, cost $57,340, according to CampusGrotto.com. The school, which has a "student-directed curriculum," in 2011 had 1,500 enrolled students.

The Johns Hopkins University

Johns Hopkins University, which consistently ranks as one of America's most funded research universities, has a total cost for room, board, tuition and other required fees of $57,320. CampusGrotto.com ranks the Baltimore-based private school as the 13th most expensive college. The image at left shows the Homewood House, the oldest building on campus. Below is the Lower (Engineering) Quad.

Barnard College

With a total cost of $57,312, Barnard College in New York ranks 14th this school year on CampusGrotto.com's list of the most expensive colleges. About 2,400 undergraduate women are enrolled at the private liberal arts school.

Bates College

Room, board, tuition and other required fees at Bates College in Lewiston, Maine, run $57,235. CampusGrotto.com this school year ranks the private liberal arts school as the 16th most expensive college.

Fordham University

Fordham College at Lincoln Center in New York will set you back $57,188 for room, board, tuition and other fees. The private research university ranks 17th this school year on CampusGrotto.com's list of the most expensive colleges.

Northwestern University

Northwestern University in Chicago ranks as the 18th most expensive college for the 2012-2013 school year, according to CampusGrotto.com. Room, board, tuition and other fees at the private research university cost $57,108.

Fordham College at Rose Hill

Room, board, tuition and other required fees at Fordham College at Rose Hill in Bronx, N.Y., cost $57,106. The private liberal arts school ranks 19th on CampusGrotto.com's list of the most expensive colleges.

Carnegie Mellon University

The Carnegie Mellon University, where total cost of attendance averages $57,104, ranks as the 20th most expensive college, according to CampusGrotto.com. The image shows Hamerschlag Hall of the Carnegie Institute of Technology at the private research university in Pittsburgh.

Cornell University

Cornell University, a private university and member of the Ivy League, has a total cost of $57,091. The school ranks as the 21st most expensive college, according to CampusGrotto.com. McGraw Tower, Barnes Hall and Sage Hall at Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y., appear in the image.

Scripps College

Room, board, tuition and other required fees at Scripps College cost $57,088. The school, a progressive liberal arts university and member of the seven Claremont Colleges in Claremont, Calif., ranks 22nd this school year on CampusGrotto.com's annual list of the most expensive colleges.

Vassar College

Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., ranks 23rd this school year on CampusGrotto.com's list of the most expensive colleges. Room, board, tuition and other required fees at the liberal arts college cost $57,070.

Occidental College

Room, board, tuition and other required fees at Occidental College in Los Angeles cost $57,028, which ranks the school 24th this school year on CampusGrotto.com's list of the most expensive colleges. The image shows the private school's Thorne Hall.

Oberlin College

The total cost of Oberlin College, including room, board, tuition and other fees, is $57,025, according to CampusGrotto.com. The private college's Peters Hall appears in the image.

Credit: Florestanova

Haverford College

Haverford College, a private liberal arts college outside of Philadelphia, has a total cost for room, board, tuition and other required fees of $56,992. The image shows Founders Hall on campus at Haverford, where the school's Quaker philosophy combines with rigorous academics.

Bennington College

Bennington College in Bennington, Vt., charges $56,990 for room, board, tuition and other required fees, according to CampusGrotto.com. The image shows the liberal arts college's Jennings Music Building.

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

With a total cost for room, board, tuition and other required fees of $56,925, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, N.Y., ranks No. 28 this school year on CampusGrotto.com's list of the most expensive colleges. The private research university's Vorhees Computing Center is seen in the image.

University of Southern California

The University of Southern California is in South Central Los Angeles. Room, board, tuition and other required fees there cost $56,903. CampusGrotto.com ranks USC, a private research university, as the 29th-most expensive college this school year.

Washington University in St. Louis

Washington University in St. Louis charges $56,823 for room, board, tuition and other required fees, according to CampusGrotto.com. Brookings hall, the private research university's signature building, appears in the image.

Connecticut College

New London-based Connecticut College charges $56,790, ranking the school No. 31 on CampusGrotto.com's list of the most expensive colleges for the 2012-2013 school year. New London Hall at the private liberal arts college is seen in the image.

Tulane University

Tulane University, a private school in New Orleans, charges $56,780 for room, board tuition and other required fees, according to CollegeGrotto.com. Jones Hall, where the school's library keeps its Special Collections, appears in the image.

Williams College

Room, board, tuition and other required fees at Williams College in Williamstown, Mass., cost $56,770, according to CampusGrotto.com. The private liberal arts college's Chapin Hall is seen in the image.

Stevens Institute of Technology

With a total cost of $56,596, Stevens Institute of Technology ranks as the 31st most expensive college this school year on CollegeGrotto.com's list of the most expensive colleges. The image shows the DeBaun Atrium inside the Babbio Building at the research university in Hoboken, N.J.

Tufts University

For room, board, tuition and other required fees, Tufts University charges $56,546. The private research university in Medford, Mass., ranks 35th on CollegeGrotto.com's list of the most expensive colleges for the 2012-2013 school year. Packard Hall appears in the image.

Boston College

Boston College, a private Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Mass., charges $56,516 for room, board, tuition and other required fees, according to CampusGrotto.com. The image shows the school's St. Ignatius Gate.

Brandeis University

The total cost at Brandeis University is $56,516, according to CollegeGrotto.com. The school's founders originally wanted to name the establishment The Albert Einstein Foundation for Higher Learning Inc. But they named it Brandeis University after the eminent physicist refused an offer from the school's trustees to name it after him.

The George Washington University

The George Washington University charges $56,310 for room, board, tuition and other required fees. The private school in Washington ranks 40th on CampusGrotto.com's list of the most expensive colleges.

Amherst College

Amherst College is a private liberal arts college located in Amherst, Mass., that charges $56,260 for room, board, tuition and other required fees. It ranks 42nd on CampusGrotto.com's list of the most expensive colleges.

University of Rochester

University of Rochester, a private research university, ranks as the 43th most expensive college this school year with a total cost $56,252, according to CampusGrotto.com. The Rush Rhees Library at the school in Rochester, N.Y., appears in the image.

Bowdoin College

Bowdoin College charges $56,128 for room, board, tuition and other required fees, according to CampusGrotto.com. The Quad at the private liberal arts college in Brunswick, Maine, appears during winter at left, and in the fall below.

Franklin & Marshall College

Franklin & Marshall College, a liberal arts college in Lancaster, Pa, ranks 47th this school year on CampusGrotto.com's annual list of the most expensive college. For room, board, tution and other required fees, the school charges $56,110. The Shadek-Fackenthall Library appears in the image.

Middlebury College

Middlebury College charges $55,950 for room, board, tuition and other required fees. The private liberal arts college in Middlebury, Vt., ranks 50th this school year on CollegeGrotto.com's list of the most expensive colleges. The admissions office at Middlebury, known as the Emma Willard House and a national historic landmark, appears in the image.